Russian Jet Flies Wingtip To Wingtip With Reaper Drone Over Syria

Footage released by the Russian Ministry of Defence shows the first official encounter between Russia and the US in Syrian airspace. The video filmed from the cockpit of a Russian Sukhoi (Su-30SM) shows a US MQ-9 Reaper Drone flying wing to wing with the Russian Air Force jet. It is most likely that both aircraft crossed paths peacefully while conducting their own different aerial operations in areas close to each other.

Although Russian and the US have supposedly coordinated their activity over the skies of Syria, aerial encounters still continue to persist. While Russian has claimed to intercept US Drones on three separate occasions, this is the first video officially confirming an incident.